The pot-luck supper on August 12 brought over 20 people to the hangar, along with copious quantities of food and drink. With the beautiful weather and the socializing, no movie was presented afterwards. The board has agreed these will be held at least once a year in the future.
At the August chapter meeting, Bernardi's in Dunlap was selected to again hold the annual banquet in December. Date and details will be published in November.
Youth Programs
A Young Eagles flight for a legally blind kid at Lindbergh Middle School made the local paper:
Ryan Rusk... is legally blind, but a pair of eSight glasses has restored a significant amount of his vision—enough to take the controls of an airplane as it soared over the Illinois River... The device displays imagery in front of the glasses on screens immediately in the wearer’s sight with a video algorithm calibrated for individual conditions.
Thanks to pilot Andy Zich for providing the flight.
Teri Brandt will bring her students who attended the last Young Eagles rally to a future chapter meeting to introduce the club to them.
Presentations
The ATC at PIA has asked to speak at an upcoming chapter meeting, and they would like to know what topics are of interest to the chapter. Please make your requests via the chapter e-mail account.
Treasury
With a full hangar and the breakfast well attended, the budget is staying on track. There was no change in cash donations, to either youth or general accounts.
Nominations
This year's nominating committee for electing the board of directors consists of Rich Gilbert, Marty Martin, and Ron Vice. If you are interested in serving as an officer or a director, please contact one these members.
IMC Club
The August meeting of the IMC Club was held on August 13 at the chapter hangar with 5 members attending. Dick Barthel gave a summary of the forum he attended at Oshkosh on IMC Club formation, and his discussions with EAA staff. It was decided that we would go ahead and become a formal club with EAA so we could have access to the library of materials they have. Kent Lynch agreed to be the coordinator, and has made contact with EAA and participated in a training webinar to complete the requirements for the program. We should be "official" as of the next meeting, which is Sunday, September 10 at 6 PM in the chapter hangar.
Dick had also brought some IFR scenarios to discuss which were well received and sparked discussion.
Donations
Bruce Chien donated a file cabinet from the office he closed on this field, and Kent Lynch donated a winch and an engine stand.
Al Lurie plans to donate T-18 parts—enough to build the airplane—for construction or sale. We will need volunteers to move it all, and those who visit Al will likely find other aviation bits to buy.
Correction: In the first edition of the last newsletter it was reported Ron Wright had donated a jukebox and light fixtures. My apology to Ron Vice, who was the donor.
Volunteers
We need kitchen help for the breakfasts in September through to the end of the year.
National
Headquarters created an on-line survey and offered it to all members. They prepared the results of this survey for each chapter, and that for 563 is available here, as a somewhat clumsy spreadsheet. This spreadsheet is presented using Google Docs and spans about 75 columns on 2 sheets; you will likely need a fairly recent browser to view it correctly. Distributed with the chapter summary spreadsheet were their notes on this survey from the national level, again presented here through Google Docs.
We were one of five chapters awarded a TIG welder by national, and it is now in the hangar. We will need an argon bottle and regulator for it. Steve Kensinger from Pekin has expressed interest in giving a demonstration with this unit at a hangar seminar this fall.
Members
There are two new members this month, Richard Lahood:
I've been a Sport Pilot since 2008. I'm an active member of the Heart of Illinois Ultralight Club in Deer Creek, Illinois where I've flown a number of Light Sport aircraft over the years. I received my Private Certificate in early 2017 and keep a Diamond DA40 at Mount Hawley Airport. I am currently getting my Instrument Rating and love to fly at every available opportunity.
and Andrew Barth. Andrew is a Mechanical Engineering student at Bradley. At the August chapter meeting he showed a small turbojet engine project he is working on for school. CNC milled from aluminum and steel, it has a radial compressor and an axial turbine.
There were also two belated renewals, bringing membership to 57 this year.
Airport
A local pilot wrote to say Dr. Dru Hauter at the IWIRC facility (736 SW Washington St, Peoria) is giving Basic Med exams: "He is more than willing to do them and is interested in aviation himself." There have been reports of doctors refusing them out of concerns with liability.
3MY
The Airport Authority is organizing their third annual Poker Run, for Sunday, September 17. Draw five cards from any of the following airports: Mt. Hawley, Galesburg, Canton, Pekin, Lacon, Kewanee, and Peru. From 7 until noon that day, Peru has a breakfast on, and there will be a TBM Avenger on display as well as helicopter rides. A copy of the Poker Run flier and registration form is available here.
The paving of the remainder of the ramp and taxiway areas adjacent to the hangars is scheduled to begin Sept. 11. Major construction work will not begin until around Sept. 18 so it does not interfere with the Poker Run.
PIA
The FAA is apparently trying to consolidate TRACON facilities. A proposal was quietly floated with an end to comments date of 8/30 to move the Peoria and Springfield TRACONs to St. Louis. This would include the loss of 2 to 6 controllers at Peoria. Equipment would remain here, but the people pilots talk to would be in St. Louis. AOPA has been notified, and the airport authority is working with local elected officials. This change goes into effect if the House and Senate do not approve a bill by 9/30 to block it.
